


in a man's world (a woman does what she can)

by queerio_gaymer



Category: Wonder Woman (2017), Wonder Woman - All Media Types
Genre: AU or should I say gay-u, F/F, Period-Typical Homophobia, but just a little bit, probably some slight historical leniancies, reimagining of canon with a leading lady instead of steve, two badass ladies tearing up the battlefield in WW1
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-05
Updated: 2017-07-23
Packaged: 2018-11-28 07:46:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11413383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queerio_gaymer/pseuds/queerio_gaymer
Summary: It's not Steve Trevor who washes ashore Themyscira. In fact, it's not a man at all.//Chapter 5:“Your fate is for my mother - our queen - to decide.”Evelyn bit her lip. A thoughtful look passed across her face, as if she was trying to recall who Hippolyta was from the Amazons she’d encountered on the beach. Apparently it clicked, because she let out a long, hissing breath. “I’m fucked.”





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hey I haven't technically forgotten this work!! I hit a snag for the 6th chapter (do I wanna do flashbacks for the lasso scene, or just have talking?). Anyway, part of 6 is done, I've posted it to my tumblr if you wanna check it out (http://haha-nerrrd.tumblr.com/ > search by the title).

Diana, princess of Themyscira, did not have the most well-developed sense of irony. She, and most of the island’s other inhabitants, preferred to speak plainly or else not speak at all, and that often left little room for humor in incongruity.

 

But she could appreciate the irony of Themycira’s (re)introduction to Man’s World. Her mother - Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons - had weaned her on tales of Man’s feeble nature, the darkness of Man’s hearts, their rampant corruption that would rip the world asunder. And even though all of this wickedness was born of Ares’, the god of war’s, influence, Diana knew her mother believed that this evil had seeped deep into Man’s very bones. Unshakeable, the very thing that held them aloft even as they tore each other down.

 

Man was horrible and weak, as opposed to the Amazons, the stalwart (women) guardians of the world. War - that monstrous beast - was Man’s domain, whereas peace was theirs.

 

So in the end it was fitting, really, that the first of Mankind to walk the shores of Themyscira was not a man at all, but a woman.

 

* * *

 

It happened early one morning, as the flames of dawn were just licking at the horizon. Diana was running along the island’s cliff edge, warming her body up for Amazonian training. Her aunt, General Antiope, didn’t start the army’s training until later in the morning, but Diana took her dedication to getting stronger seriously, having been forbidden from training for so long.

 

Diana knew the island’s perimeter like she knew her own heart. Her feet naturally found their way around rocks and over holes and guided her up and down the gentle slopes. It freed her mind to focus on other things, which as of lately was something Diana was beginning to rue.

 

When Diana had first begun training as a child, so many years ago, she had done so in secret. Her aunt had met her at night, or in whatever stolen moments they could find, and put Diana through the paces. Stances, falls, defense, offense… Diana had eagerly copied it all, clumsily at first, and, under Antiope’s hawk-like eyes, sometimes clumsily even still. When her mother had found out, angry at their disregard for her order but ultimately relenting to their persistence of its necessity, that was when Diana had truly started her training. Antiope had put her through drills that were far more arduous than those she put the other Amazons through. It had left Diana battered, bruised, frequently gripping her last thread of resolve. For a time.

 

Now Diana was strong. Fast. Unwavering, though her mother called her ‘bullish,’ with love.

 

And yet.

 

Diana sighed raggedly, picking up her speed until her lungs burned, sweat started pricking on her brow. She turned her dark gaze to the ocean, but like the waves, her thoughts kept churning.

 

Diana was among the strongest on the island, and yet the General insisted that she was holding back, that she was stronger but for a lack of faith in herself and her abilities. It was starting to wear on her, but… There was something else, too. Something she couldn’t name. It felt like a wind inside her chest, faint but growing, that was tugging at her heart. It made her restless, try as she might to anchor herself.

 

Diana shook her head, forcing away these thoughts to the back of her mind, where they had seemed to take up a permanent residence.

 

And that was when she saw it. In the distance, bobbing in the waters just inside Themyscira’s protective border, a shape, and another and another. Squinting, her racing heart skipping a beat, Diana pushed herself to run faster still.

 

It was wreckage, pieces of...what was probably part of a large ship, when it was whole. Nothing stirred against the ocean’s current, and Diana had a foreboding feeling that she was looking at a desiccated example of Man’s greatest past-time, destruction.

 

Curious even so, Diana kept running, making a straight line for the closest path down the cliffside.

\--

 

By the time Diana made her way down, the wreckage had drifted within a stone’s throw of the shore. Most of it was just splinters, painted white and gleaming in the sun. There were a few larger pieces, warped, though whether it was from the blow that destroyed the ship or from the journey that brought its ruins here, Diana did not know.

 

A chill coursed down Diana’s back. She couldn’t be sure that the ship hadn’t merely fallen victim to troubled waters or whatever else. It was probably a product of her mother’s tales, that she so readily jumped to the conclusion of violence. That didn’t change, however, that whatever the ship had met had reduced it to shreds.

 

And the worst of all were the carcasses of everyday items, echoes of the lives that must’ve been aboard. A crate, stamped with some insignia that Diana did not recognize. A green-tinted glass bottle, its own contents long since gone. A bundle of clothes atop the largest fragment of ship, that almost resembled…

 

Diana’s breath hitched. Was that - Could it be - ?

 

She was moving before her thoughts could catch up with her, diving into the water and swimming with a might the General would be proud of. The waves pushed back against her, the salt stinging her eyes, but she cut through it like a knife, iron-willed.

 

(Diana had always been thankful for her training, for the strength it had forged in her, but now, when it counted for something more than competition or the thrill of winning a match or completing a drill, she was _thankful_.)

 

Reaching the wreckage, Diana braced her elbows its edge, gasping for breath. Wiping her brow, she glanced over and nearly gasped again. It was a person, someone from Man’s World! Diana, testingly, pulled herself halfway up, but the ship’s fragment tilted alarmingly. Settling back down in the water, she scrambled nearer.

 

It was a woman, not a man. Diana knew Man’s World had women, of course, but it was strange to see an outsider who was at once familiar and yet so strange.

 

The woman had sandy blonde, shoulder-length hair, splayed out limply behind her. Her skin was pale, freckled, tinged pink with exposure to the sun. There was nothing about her that seemed so inherently different from an Amazon, aside from her relative lack of muscle tone and her clothes. And her clothes were odd - like the leather skirts they wore, but made of a lighter (less protective, Diana thought) navy-hued fabric and longer, reaching midway down her calves. She was half shrugged out of a matching jacket, revealing a white undershirt beneath, nearly thin enough to be see through.

 

Diana, snapping herself out of her observation, put a hand up to hover close to the woman’s face, checking for any stirrings of breath. The woman’s eyelids didn’t flutter, she didn’t move or react at all. Diana bit her lip, and her eyes traced the outsider’s scattered freckles, her strong jaw, waiting, waiting, and - yes, faint but even, it was _there_. This woman was _alive._

 

Diana grabbed onto the wreckage with one hand and began to swim back to shore. She scanned the top of the cliffs for other Amazons. None. It didn’t surprise Diana. It was still early, and the others usually gave her privacy on her morning runs, knowing that of late she enjoyed the solitude while she readied herself for the day.

 

Diana’s feet hit sand, and she stood, dragging the wreckage through the water and then onto the beach. She took a few shaky-legged steps and then sat down on the sand, leaning forward and wringing the seawater out of her hair as she regained her breath.

 

Diana’s eyes found the outsider again. She checked the rise and fall of her chest, and then her eyes drifted over the other woman’s features. Diana frowned.

 

“Water,” she murmured to herself, reaching for the leather canteen she kept strapped to her shoulder as she trained. The Amazon army had seen its fair share of over exertion and sun sickness; the canteens were standard issue. __She’s probably dehydrated._ _

 

Diana kneeled over the outsider, putting a hand behind the woman’s neck and tilting her head up, bringing the canteen to her chapped lips. She hesitated, then poured the water into the woman’s mouth.

 

Nothing. Diana waited. She watched the outsider’s face for any sign of reaction. Nothing. Heart beating faster, Diana moved her arm so it was behind the woman’s back, propping her into a sitting position. Here was a living, breathing person from Man’s World, washed ashore Themyscira - she’d be damned if this person would die now, in her arms.

 

 _Fight,_ Diana thought, her eyes searching. _Hades doesn’t have you yet._

 

After an excruciatingly long moment, the hope in Diana’s chest a nearly crushing weight, Diana heard a soft groan.

 

And…

 

The woman’s eyes blinked open.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who's read, given kudos, or left a review!! <3
> 
> I had so much fun writing chapter one, I just kept chugging away, so in short order, here's chapter two!

* * *

 

Diana stared down at the woman stirring in her arms. Her eyes, the same pale green as new growth and flecked with brown, were at first unfocused. There was a moment of calm as her gaze slid to Diana, slowly sharpening in awareness, and then…

 

“What…?” It was weak, a murmur that Diana wouldn’t have heard if she hadn’t been so close.

 

Diana smiled in relief, feeling an almost giddiness flood through her veins. “You’re awake!” Remembering her manners and seeking to dampen the outsider’s confusion, she continued. “I am Diana, Princess of Themyscira, home of -”

 

“What the _hell_?” The woman cut her off, voice hoarse from the abuse of the sea. She struggled to shrug out of Diana’s grip, who tried to disentangle herself as gently as possible to give the outsider space. “What...shitting... _hell_!”

 

Diana’s brows furrowed. “You’re alive,” she supplied helpfully, on the slight chance the woman actually thought she was in hell, considering her repeated exclamations of the place.

 

The woman, now sitting up on her own and having scrambled to put a few feet of distance between them, scoffed. Staring out at the sea, she muttered something under her breath. It sounded like _Figures,_ but that didn’t make any sense, so Diana assumed she heard her wrong.

 

Turning her eyes back to Diana, she glanced the Amazon up and down. It was a quick, calculated scrutiny, and her gaze contained a glint of steel Diana was used to seeing in the heat of a match from a sparring partner. It was...odd, to see something so recognizable in an outsider.

 

“Who _are_ you?” The question was gruff, all but a demand.

 

“Diana,” she repeated patiently with a placating smile. After a small pause, she extended her hand in greeting.

 

The woman glanced down at it. Her jaw clenched as she debated whether or not to take it, and for a moment Diana thought she would be rebuffed. But then she put her hand, warm and smoother than the Amazon’s, in Diana’s, giving it a firm shake.

 

“Evelyn Wilkes,” she replied shortly. Her eyes met Diana’s, that fierce intensity still behind them.

 

Diana’s smile grew into a grin. “Welcome to Themyscira, Evelyn Wilkes.”

 

The other woman seemed almost dazed, or perhaps taken aback. Biting her lip, she glanced away, the color on her cheeks rising a shade.

 

An intriguing reaction, Diana noted.

 

“Therm- Themyscira,” Evelyn repeated, the new word clumsy on her tongue. Closing her eyes, she brought her hands up to massage her temples, a long sigh hissing out from between her teeth.

 

Figuring she was suffering the effects of sun sickness, Diana offered Evelyn the canteen. The woman’s eyes snapped open, and she glared down at it.

 

“I’m fine,” she bit off.

 

“You’re not,” Diana argued, frowning. She felt a flare of frustration ignite in her chest. “You were nearly dead when I found you. Drink.”

 

Evelyn’s glare slid up to Diana. “If the ship being torpedoed didn’t kill me - ” She stopped herself there, jaw clenching, lips pressed in a thin line.

 

Diana didn’t understand exactly - _torpedoed?_ \- but before she could press for an explanation, the other woman was struggling to her feet.

 

“I need to get to London,” Evelyn said, standing shakily. She scanned the sky, charting the ordinal directions, eyes finding the sun, which had since risen to break free of the horizon. “Lord knows… I can… drink when I get there.” There were beads of sweat on her brow, and her breathing was uneven. She’d stood too quickly.

 

Diana got to her feet, which prompted Evelyn to take a few steps back. It proved too much for her weary limbs, and she stumbled. Diana was at her side in a heartbeat.

 

“Is everyone from Man’s World as stubborn as you are, Evelyn Wilkes?” she asked, snaking an arm underneath the other woman’s shoulders. The question came out more aggressive than Diana meant it to. This whole conversation was somewhat bewildering to her. Why was this woman rejecting her aid? Were all outsiders so...curt?

 

Evelyn scoffed, though after another failed step that had her legs buckling, she leaned heavily on Diana’s supportive arm. “That’s…” She trailed off, her brow scrunched in a way that was almost pleasant, if not for her impressive scowl. “What do you mean, ‘Man’s World’?” she asked, slowly.

 

Right. Outsiders wouldn’t _know_ they were outsiders, Diana chastised herself.

 

Diana was about to respond, but --

 

“Diana! You’re late for training!” A familiar voice called from above them. Looking up, on the cliff’s edge stood Antiope. The general was dressed in her typical leather armor, tiara glinting in the sun’s rays. Diana could feel something in her chest tighten as Antiope’s gaze honed in on the woman at her side. “Diana, is that an _outsider_?”

 

Other Amazons joined the general, staring down at them with wonder and hostility. Next to her, Diana could feel the other woman tense.

 

“What,” Evelyn muttered, “in the _hell_?”

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there's Evelyn! I'm envisioning her character being gruff, and headstrong like Diana, so the two both play off each other and butt heads. So, a different dynamic than she had with Steve. Anyway, it's 2 a.m., so I'll...leave it there. I really enjoyed writing this chapter, short as it is, so hopefully it's even half as good of a read!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter. Thanks again to everyone who's read/left kudos/reviewed!

* * *

 

The general descended on them like an eagle upon her prey. Antiope took a running leap off of the cliff, twisting as she fell and drawing the bow from her back, firing an arrow with rope attached at the rock. It acted as an anchor, transforming her fall from deadly to a tactical way to scale down the cliff's edge. The move was one well-practiced by her aunt. She was the greatest general the Amazons had ever known, and she had maneuvers and strategies for any event they could dream of. While no Amazon could fly, Diana imagined this was the closest any could come.

 

Evelyn flinched as Antiope’s boots touched the ground and the other Amazons followed suit.

 

“I never imagined I’d die in the war.” The woman let out a dry, rueful laugh. There was no fear in her voice, though Diana thought she caught a glimpse of it in her green eyes.

 

“The Amazons will not kill you,” Diana said, shifting the arm she was using to support Evelyn’s weight to rest a calming hand on her shoulder. The woman had evaded death once today, she would not have to again.

 

Evelyn shrugged from Diana’s grip to stand on her own. She shot Diana a look. “The way you say that...isn’t exactly reassuring.”

 

Antiope neared them, the other Amazons on her heels. Diana took a step forward, angling herself to stand between the woman and her people. It was a move that did not escape the general’s notice.

 

“Diana…” Antiope’s stare leveled over the brunette’s shoulder. “Who is this?” Her voice was heavy with an unspoken rebuke: _stand aside._

 

“This is Evelyn Wilkes,” she said, knowing that was not the information her aunt was seeking. “She is from - ”

 

“‘Man’s World,’” Evelyn chimed in, in a tone unhelpfully edged with sarcasm. “The ocean most recently, though.”

 

Diana tilted her head, side-eying the woman. Such a caustic approach would definitely not ingratiate herself to anyone on the island, but the damage was now done.

 

“Evelyn Wilkes,” Antiope said slowly, striding closer imposingly. “Do you know where you are?”

 

Evelyn seemed taken aback, her eyes flitting from the general to Diana. “...Woman’s World?”

 

Antiope was unrelenting. “Were you sent here?”

 

Evelyn’s jaw clenched. Her hands shook from where they hung at her side. “For all I know, this place is just my dying fever dream.” Her gaze glided over the general, the surrounding Amazons. It was just a flash, but Diana thought she saw some unnameable emotion in her eyes.

 

Antiope looked over her shoulder, gesturing to the warriors standing behind her. “Seize her.”

 

They moved forward, avoiding Diana’s eyes as they pushed past her.

 

“Wait!” Diana appealed to the general, knowing she was the only one the other Amazons would obey. “Antiope, please. She was shipwrecked, she can barely stand. She is not a threat, _look_ at her!”

 

Her aunt’s gaze appraised Evelyn, calculating. She watched as the woman struggled against her captor, then, wearing herself out, took to glaring in stony silence instead. Looking back to Diana with an expression the princess was unable to read, the general shook her head.

 

“Appearances can be deceiving, Diana. Anyone can be a threat - especially someone from the outside.” Antiope’s lips pressed into a narrow, disappointed frown. “You should know that.”

 

Diana’s stomach sank a little at her aunt’s disappointment. It was not enough to eclipse her sense of injustice, but it was enough to add a flickering shadow of doubt. Still, she raised her chin in defiance. “I also know that fear should never prevent us from compassion.”

 

Antiope stared at her, searching. Diana stood tall. She hoped that whatever her aunt found, it would encourage restraint, if not sympathy.

 

The sound of horses’ hooves drew their attention. Diana’s mother came riding up, flanked by her attendants. Hippolyta jerked on the reins, and her horse, white as the sea froth, half reared. The gathered Amazons silently parted, and her horse trotted forward to stop in front of Evelyn.

 

The queen’s expression was hard, a mask of steel to match the sword she carried at her belt. “So it’s true.” She stared down at the captive. “Man’s World has found us at last.”

 

Evelyn returned the stare icily. “A hell of a welcoming party this is.”

 

Diana closed her eyes briefly at the barb, stifling a sigh. Of all of them, her mother was the worst possible choice for the outsider to antagonize. Hippolyta might be a wise and fierce leader, but she was not known to be particularly lenient, nor forgiving.

 

Hippolyta’s eyes narrowed. “You are not welcome here.”

 

“Mother,” Diana spoke up, before the situation could spiral further.

 

Hippolyta turned to her, her expression softening but only by the smallest of fractions. “Diana. I should have expected you’d be involved in this somehow.”

 

Antiope stepped forward, and the queen’s attention focused on her. “General. Take this woman to the tower and prepare her for questioning.”

 

“Of course.” Antiope bowed her head. “Though, if I may, I would suggest granting her some hours’ recovery beforehand.”

 

Diana’s brow quirked in surprise. Although her aunt didn’t spare a glance in her direction, she knew it must’ve been her words to sway her to magnanimity.

 

Hippolyta’s frown sharpened, and Antiope continued, in a lower tone. “This woman may be an outsider, but that does not make her an enemy, per se.” When the queen did not respond, Antiope paused, then switched tracts. “And something tells me she will fight the lasso. She will need her strength, if we wish for the truth.”

 

Hippolyta shook her head. Her horse, picking up on her anger, stamped its hooves impatiently. “She may have an hour,” Hippolyta said, her gaze sweeping over the crowd. Her eyes landed on Diana, disapproving. It made Diana feel almost like a young child again. “And then she will be questioned.”

 

Antiope nodded, and the Amazons began to move. Hippolyta steered her horse away.

 

“You’re going to interrogate me?” Evelyn called after her. She rolled her eyes, gritting her teeth as the Amazon holding her captive tightened her grip. “Christ, I’ll be sure to spill all the war’s deeply guarded secrets of filing paperwork.”

 

Hippolyta halted, but Antiope spun on her heel, her stature suddenly rigid. “What war?” The general demanded, voice razor-edged.

 

Evelyn’s brows knitted together. “ _T_ _he_ war.” Surrounded by blank faces, Evelyn’s mouth fell open in surprise, and she floundered for words. “The - what? The war. The war-to-end-all-wars, the _world war_.” With still no dawning recognition, her shoulders slumped, defeated. “Where the hell am I? Who are you people?”

 

Ignoring her questions, the queen and general shared a knowing, suspicious look. Diana’s pulse quickened. Such a war could only mean one thing.

 

_Ares had returned._

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha Evelyn is kind of fun to write.
> 
> Anyway, just another note about this story v. canon. I'm planning on sticking to the larger structure of the movie, but adapting to the change of Evelyn instead of Steve, and restrictions of the period's sexism. It won't be repressive, I promise. Evelyn's character is shaped by the reality's of the time, but she'll kick ass and take names just the same. It just means she's not a super spy like Steve.
> 
> Also, copy-pasting from Google Docs makes Ao3 add in an extra space between punctuation and an italicized word, which is...annoying. Also a sign that maybe I use too much italics...


	4. Chapter 4

* * *

 

After the revelation of war, everyone on the beach had fallen silent. The only sound the screeching of gulls far overhead, the thrum of waves hitting the shore, and then…

 

“ _Hippolyta._ ” Antiope’s hiss had been urgent, pointed.

 

The queen, ever before unshakable, had flinched, though it appeared only as a tremor of her shoulders. Her mother’s eyes had sought out Diana’s. Their normally clear blue had been clouded by a storm that Diana had seen rare glimpses of as she grew up, a storm that had been a long time coming. One that Diana still did not fully understand.

 

Hippolyta had spurred her horse on, and, startled, the beast had taken off, sand spraying beneath its hooves. Her attendants, who had already dismounted, fumbled with the reins of their own mounts.

 

Antiope had shaken her head and ran to one of the attendants, who quickly handed over the reins to the general. Antiope had jumped into the saddle and gave chase to the queen. Diana could hear them shouting at one another, though she could not make out any distinct words besides ‘Ares,’ ‘war,’ and perhaps ‘god-killer.’ But then they turned a sharp corner and were gone.

 

Left alone, the rest of the Amazons began murmuring. They shot looks at both Diana and Evelyn, ones that were heavy with trepidation and uncertainty.

 

Diana looked to Evelyn to gauge her reaction to all of this. She found that the other woman was watching her. It was almost the same expression in them as when she’d first woken, that breath of a moment when Diana had been an island to a woman lost at sea. Diana had almost thought she’d imagined it, considering how abruptly the moment had ended and how curtly the outsider had treated her.

 

When their eyes met, Evelyn hastily glanced away. The Amazon holding her - Venelia, Diana recognized - tightened her grip around the captive’s arms.

 

“Enough!” Menalippe, the general’s lieutenant, yelled.

 

Instantly, the voices quieted, and Menalippe moved to the center of the group. She circled slowly, leveling them with a reproachful glare.

 

“Until we have instructions otherwise...return to the training grounds.”

 

With the order given, the group began to disperse. Several Amazons stared at Evelyn as they left, and Diana did not miss the way some of them rested their hands on the hilts of their swords. Whether it was a gesture done to intimidate her or to reassure themselves, Diana wasn’t sure.

 

Menalippe strode closer, and Venelia cleared her throat.

 

“What should I do with the outsider?”

 

“You could release me, for one,” Evelyn suggested, shrugging against the blonde Amazon’s grip. She winced. “You’re...inhumanly strong. It’s impressive, but my arm’s going numb.”

 

Venelia's jaw tightened, and her grip immediately loosened, an embarrassed blush pinkening her cheeks. That was the only sign she gave of hearing Evelyn, choosing not to respond as she waited for the lieutenant’s answer.

 

Menalippe thought for a short time, then replied, “Take her to Epione. She can see to her.”

 

“I can take her,” Diana said. When Menalippe turned to her, she stood tall, straightening her shoulders and putting her hands behind her back.

 

Menalippe sighed. “...Take her directly there, Diana.” She sounded weary, but given Diana’s tendency to test how flexible her mother’s orders could be, the Amazonian princess could understand why.

 

Diana nodded, keeping her expression neutral. “I will.”

 

Menalippe wavered, seeming unconvinced. She crossed her arms over her chest. “Your mother will have our heads if you don’t.”

 

Diana frowned, tiny thorns of agitation pricking beneath her skin. “I give you my word.” She already had; was it not enough? She could be headstrong, Diana knew, but - her sisters trusted her, didn’t they?

 

Menalippe picked up on the edge to Diana’s voice and bowed her head. “Alright.” She glanced at Venelia, who appeared to have noticed the underlying tension and was doing her best to stay out of it, staring at a spot in the sand over the lieutenant's shoulder. “Venelia, come - let’s join the others.”

 

Venelia’s gaze flitted between the two Amazons, and she gave a small nod. She released Evelyn and took a step away, then hesitated.

 

“I apologize, outsider. For hurting you,” she said, gesturing towards Evelyn’s arm. Her blue eyes met Evelyn’s green for only a second before skittering away.

 

“I - ” Evelyn was taken aback, a crease forming between her brows. Subconsciously, she brought a hand up to her arm. “It’s - You could’ve done worse, I’m sure.”

 

Menalippe had since started walking away, so Venelia left it at that, jogging after the lieutenant.

 

Evelyn watched her go, then turned to Diana in time to catch the brunette’s smirk. Her eyes narrowed. “What?”

 

Diana shrugged, though her smirk lingered. “That _almost_ sounded courteous, Evelyn Wilkes.” It certainly was the closest to it that Diana had yet to hear from her.

 

Evelyn scowled at the ribbing. She glared up at Diana, unperturbed by the few inches height difference between them. “Shucks, I must’ve lost my manners someplace,” she drawled, pantomiming patting her dress down in search. “Probably somewhere between being shipwrecked - ” Her voice faltered, but she pressed on regardless. “And washing up God-knows-where.”

 

Any hint of amusement or levity fell from Diana's expression. The pain of loss was obvious in the other woman's broken tone. To be attacked so unexpectedly, to lose… _however many_ others, to such an act of violence - Diana's heart wrenched just imagining it. And to think it was just a small piece of a war that encompassed the whole world. “I’m sorry.”

 

Evelyn stared out at the sea, shading her eyes from the sun with a hand. There was more wreckage, scattered farther out, bobbing rhythmically in the waves.

 

Diana allowed the other woman this moment to feel, to collect herself. It was a small mercy, but it was the most that Diana had to offer.

 

After a long minute, Evelyn made a low noise in the back of her throat. “Not as sorry as the Germans will be.” She kicked at the sand, the ocean breeze gently teasing through her hair.

 

Questions about the attack, about the war, raced through Diana’s mind. Before any of them could gain enough traction to be spoken aloud, however, Evelyn started walking down the beach.

 

“Aren't you supposed to be taking me somewhere to get tortured?” she called, spinning on her heel to face the Amazon, walking backwards. “Seems to me you were given pretty clear instructions, Princess Diana of Woman's World.”

 

Diana had to wonder about someone who would go so easily to their own presumed torture. Then again, in the short while she’d known the outsider, ‘easy’ seemed the farthest from any word that could describe her.

 

“We need to go this way. Unless you’d prefer to scale the cliff?”

 

Evelyn stopped and glanced at the cliff. She mumbled something under her breath, then followed after Diana.

 

Falling into step with the blonde, Diana added, “You will be questioned, not tortured. The Lasso of Hestia will not harm you.” Diana paused, considering. “As long as you do not fight it.”

 

Evelyn gave an incredulous laugh, running a hand through her hair. “Wow.” She shook her head, shooting Diana a sidelong glance. “Once again, not exactly reassuring.”

 

There was something in the Evelyn’s tone that bordered on _friendly_. Diana wasn’t sure how to acknowledge it in a way that wouldn’t trigger the other woman’s defensive brusqueness, so she left it alone. “Besides, that is not where we’re going.” Not right away, at least.

 

“No?” Evelyn drawled, voice dipping into a weary sarcasm. “Well now I’m intrigued.”

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's the next chapter, kinda filler. I'm not as thrilled with it. Maybe it's because I can't wait to get to the London scenes...
> 
> Oh man, thank you to everyone who's left reviews!! I gush over each and every one, even if I've yet to come up with a good response to any of them.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 5! It felt like a super long thing to write, but posting in onto Ao3...it seems so much shorter...
> 
> Thanks to NoMa, who looked this chap over and gave helpful comments & suggestions!

* * *

 

Epione was Themyscira’s chief healer, possessing unrivaled skill as a physician. Diana had visited the healer’s cave only a few times over the years. More or less it had been along these same lines - bringing others in. Despite Diana’s numerous precocious childhood adventures that had left her with scrapes (once a broken bone), and more recently her penchant for overextension during training, she rarely had to come in for herself. She’d always healed quickly, a fact that she had never learned to question.

****

For the healer’s part, Epione had never batted an eye to whatever wound of the week any of the Amazons were sporting. Diana had taken that unfazeable patience for granted, but -- she was appreciating it in all its glory now.

****

“So...you’re patching me up _before_ I’m interrogated?” Evelyn’s voice echoed off the walls of the cave. Epione had taken her to a cot in a secluded nook in the back, tucked away from prying eyes. This despite the fact that the three of them were the only ones there. Evelyn sat on the cot’s edge, legs dangling over the side. She’d taken off her jacket and partially rolled up her shirt sleeves. “What, afraid I’ll croak before I tell you the secrets of stenography?”

****

Epione rolled her dark eyes, smiling to show it was more in good humor than exasperation (though Diana could tell it carried a touch more strain than her usual bright smile). The healer was standing at Evelyn’s side, a hand loosely wrapped around the outsider’s wrist, taking her pulse with adept fingers.

****

“Is that paranoia a recent development?” she inquired evenly.

****

The corners of Evelyn’s mouth quirked up in a smirk. “It’s only paranoid if you’re wrong.”

****

Epione released the blonde’s wrist. “Evasive,” the healer noted, clucking her tongue as her eyes scanned over her patient.

****

Diana shifted her weight from foot to foot. She stood several paces away, looking on. Waiting - which was never something she did particularly well. “What is ‘stenography?’”

****

Across the way, Epione raised a brow at her fellow Amazon, but offered no reprimand for the interruption.

****

“Writing in shorthand,” Evelyn answered automatically, before she could filter the response through her typical sarcasm. She frowned down at her feet, which she swung back and forth lightly. “Taking down whatever some blowhard has to say, fast as he says it. Closest way to get to the war, more or less.”

****

That...did not make sense? Diana tilted her head quizzically. “Isn’t _fighting_ the closest one can get to war?”

****

Evelyn opened her mouth, hesitated, then closed it again. She let out a groan, rubbing her temples. “Sure, for _men_.”

****

That made even less sense, and Diana wanted to press the point - _why only for men?_ \- but Epione cleared her throat.

****

“You have a headache?” Epione asked, though it was stated more as an observation. Her voice was lowered, carrying a soothing note. “Do you remember if you hit your head at any point?”

****

Evelyn nodded with a wince, though Diana couldn’t tell if it was due to the action or the memory. “It comes and goes. And yeah, when it first...happened, I think I fell.” She snorted, shaking her head as if she could loosen the pain free that way. “Feels like they torpedoed my skull.”

****

Epione moved to stand in front of Evelyn, her pale blue dress swaying gently as she went. The healer brought a hand up to Evelyn’s chin, tilting her head up so she could examine her eyes. Evelyn jolted slightly at the contact, gaze reflexively sliding away.

****

“I need to check your pupils,” Epione explained, not unkindly. When Evelyn looked up, Epione was silent a moment, checking each eye in turn. “Normal, that’s a good sign.” Glancing over her shoulder at Diana, she asked, “Diana, would you mind fetching some valerian root from my supply? Third shelf, on the right side.”

****

Diana inclined her head in assent, turning to walk to the front of the cave, where the healer’s stock of herbs were. Behind her, she could hear Epione ask the outsider a series of questions, followed by the cadence of an answer too quiet to hear distinctly.

****

The healer’s supply was an impressively cavernous room in itself. Near its entrance was a large stone table with a variety of herbs spread over it, a mortar and pestle full of half-ground tree bark. Around the room’s walls, rows of shelves were carved into the rock’s face. Books, medical tools, and plants (both fresh and ground of each type, the powders stored in flasks) were stacked in abundance on each shelf. All the supplies were meticulously organized, or at least they appeared that way to Diana, who was not particularly versed in the healing arts.

****

Diana cast a critical eye around the room. Each shelf had a Greek numeral carved on it, so Diana wandered until she found γ, three. There were more than a dozen plants there, but valerian was a commonplace flower around the island, and Diana recognized it by its small white petals. She took a flask of the ground root, and wrinkled her nose. The musky scent of the fresh cut plant was...unpleasant, and Diana beat a hasty retreat.

****

She knew Epione would need to mix the powder with water to make the common headache cure. Diana’s canteen was still mostly full, as Evelyn had stubbornly rejected drinking from it earlier. But, if she wasn’t mistaken, the healer would need something to measure it out with. Diana circled the room, at last spying a small spoon on one of the shelves. Feeling pleased with her quarry, she exited.

****

By the time she finally made it back, Epione was the only one still in the nook. Looking up at Diana’s approach, Epione smiled. “Thank you,” she said warmly as the brunette handed over the flask, the spoon, and the canteen. Noticing Diana glancing around, she added, “I sent her to bathe, while she has the chance.”

****

Diana nodded, eyes trailing in the direction of the bathing pool. “How is she?” she asked.

****

Epione sighed, pausing to choose her words carefully. “Stressed, physically and emotionally. It’s possible she has a mild concussion, though she appears to be functioning well, aside from headaches and...some irritability.” Epione moved to place all the items on the cot, then opened the flask to scoop out a precise amount of powder. “Normally I would suggest rest, however…”

****

Any rest would be short-lived. Neither Hippolyta nor Antiope would grant the outsider any longer than that. It wasn’t ideal, but -- as Amazons, they needed to know all they could about Ares, if he indeed had returned. The suspicion felt like an itch beneath Diana’s skin.

****

“I hadn’t realized you were the one to rescue her from the water,” Epione remarked as she mixed the powdered root in with the water in the canteen.

****

Diana glanced at the healer, who was watching her with interest. “She told you that?” That seemed uncharacteristically lacking in acerbity.

****

Epione dipped her head, smiling to herself. “Not in those exact words, but yes.” She shook the canteen a bit, and her expression sobered. “She mentioned a war.”

****

“A ‘world war.’” Diana echoed the phrase Evelyn had spoken on the beach. “A ‘war-to-end-all-wars.’”

****

Epione stared down at the canteen in her hands. Her lips were pursed in a fine line, and she looked almost ill. “A war with weapons that can tear apart an entire ship… Gods. It makes the hairs on the back of my neck rise.”

****

A surge of sympathy swelled in Diana’s chest. The attack was monstrous to imagine. Which was why the Amazons needed to act quickly - if it _was_ Ares, then they alone could put an end to such bloodshed. Lost in her thoughts, Diana’s eyes drifted once again towards the bath.

****

Epione noticed and handed her the canteen wordlessly, tilting her head in a _go on_ gesture. Diana took her cue and left.

****

The bathing pool was deeper into the cave, in an area that naturally sloped downwards. The room had only one entrance, allowing for some privacy. It was kept darker than the last, lit mostly by the ethereal misty blue of the water, giving it a calming atmosphere. (At least, to those willing to be calmed, Diana thought to herself. She was not sure the outsider fit into that category.)

****

Diana descended the steps. She was about to announce herself, but stopped short when she saw the other woman.

****

Evelyn was submerged to her chin, her head resting back on the rocky edge of the pool, eyes closed. The mist and glow of the water softened the sharp edges of her face. She looked _serene._ With everything else that was happening - despite everything else - Diana was all but loathe to disturb this moment of peace.

****

The moment was not long to last, however.

****

“God, I can hear you thinking from here.” The words, though pointed, lacked much of their caustic tone. Evelyn gave no other sign of acknowledgement, eyes staying closed.

****

“I did not mean to disturb you,” Diana said, stepping further into the room.

****

Evelyn’s eyes opened, and in the glow of the water they possessed an almost hypnotic pull. “No, silently watching me bathe isn’t disturbing at all.”

****

Diana’s brows furrowed at the comment. The Amazons were unashamed of their bodies, in all their forms. Themyscira had public bathhouses, and over the years Diana had seen most of the other Amazons in various states of undress. It was true that staring, taking a noted interest in another’s body... could at times carry a specific connotation. One that she hadn’t meant to imply.

****

Diana cleared her throat. “Epione made you some medicine. Valerian root - it will help with your headaches.” She raised the canteen, giving it a light shake for emphasis. Moving closer to set it on a ledge near the pool, she noticed the glint of something lying next to Evelyn.

****

It was a necklace. The design was fairly simple (as far as the jewelry Diana knew to compare it to). It had a thin tightly-woven chain and a single pendant, but the pendant was unlike any Diana had seen. It was small, a dull brass on one side and glass on the other. In the middle, beneath the glass, were various arrows.

****

“What is that?” Diana asked, curious.

****

Evelyn’s gaze slid to the necklace, and there was a flash of intense emotion in her eyes that Diana couldn’t decipher. The blonde’s jaw clenched, and she swallowed thickly. “It’s, ah…” She reached a hand out, fingers tracing around the edge of the pendant. “...It’s a compass.”

****

“A compass?” Diana repeated, the word foreign on her tongue.

****

“It’s for telling direction,” Evelyn explained, her voice somewhat flat. She sighed, leaning her head back to stare at the ceiling. “How to get to wherever the hell you need to be. Which obviously would be more helpful if I wasn’t lost.”

****

Diana studied the other woman. A strained sort of tension seemed to be rising off of her, thick as the mist off the water. Diana wasn’t sure why a device for navigation would elicit such a response.

****

“And where,” she wondered, “do you need to be?”

****

A beat of quiet followed before Evelyn answered. “The bottom of the ocean, according to the Germans.” She let out a dry laugh, though Diana failed to see the humor in the statement. “I’d prefer London, if only by a hair. Apples and oranges, really.”

****

Evelyn frowned, lifting her head and meeting Diana’s eyes. There was a gravity in her expression that the Amazon hadn’t yet seen. “Diana, after you all do...whatever it is you’re going to do, _will_ I be free to go?”

****

Diana wanted to answer in the affirmative, but she knew that ultimately it was not her decision to make. She held out her arms in a shrug, then let them fall back to her side. “Your fate is for my mother - our queen - to decide.”

****

Evelyn bit her lip. A thoughtful look passed across her face, as if she was trying to recall who Hippolyta was from the Amazons she’d encountered on the beach. Apparently it clicked, because she let out a long, hissing breath. “I’m fucked.”

****

A half-amused, half-sympathetic smile curled Diana’s lips. “You did not make a particularly gracious first impression,” she teased, but then added more solemnly, “I will argue on your behalf.”

****

“Why?” Evelyn asked, sounding almost as bewildered as when she’d first awoke. The way she was staring at Diana was reminiscent of that as well. “I don’t -- Why would you do that? Why are you going out of your way to help me?”

****

Diana tilted her head, not quite understanding. “Because it’s the right thing to do,” she said simply. That should’ve been explanation in and of itself, but seeing Evelyn was still perplexed, she added, “The right thing is never out of the way. It is the _only_ way.” Such an ethos was a part of her blood, as an Amazon, as a guardian of the world.

****

The expression in Evelyn’s wide eyes shifted towards incredulousness, and then something more than that. But before she could respond, a voice called out from the main cavern of the cave.

****

“Diana!” Diana recognized the voice belonging to the senator Philippus. “I’ve come to escort the outsider to the arena for questioning.”

****

It was time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who's read/left kudos/commented!! You're the best, all of you :)


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